Mr. Dayton to Mr.
Seward
No. 504.]
Paris,
July 7, 1864.
Sir: Yours, No. 565, advising me to inquire of
Mr. Carvallo, the minister of Chili at Brussels, if it shall be
pretended that the rams now being built at
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Bordeaux have been ordered by, Chili, I have
received, and shall not fail to ac upon it, if it become necessary. But
Chili has a minister here, Mr. Rosales, who is my immediate neighbor,
and with whom my relations are very good. He was at one time, on the
part of Chili, making all necessary inquiries about these vessels, and,
if I remember rightly, got the contracts under which they were built, or
copies of them, from me. I will have no difficulty in learning from him
whatever may or may not be done here for Chili.
But Europe is so disturbed just now that this class of vessels, and
vessels-of-war indeed of any kind, may find purchasers. The newspapers
assume it as a fact settled, that the two clipper ships which have left,
or are about to leave, Bordeaux for Amsterdam have been bought by
Prussia. This I hope may be so, but I am by no means sure of it.
In the Gironde, published at Bordeaux on the 5th instant, is the
communication in the accompanying slip, which I send you as containing
the substance of all the newspaper notices on this subject.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward
&c., &c., &c.
P. S.—Since writing the above, M. Drouyn de l’Huys has assured me
that the Yeddo has gone into the possession and ownership of
Prussia; and that this vessel carries her flag, and has a Prussian
crew aboard; which, by the way, he says is against his intention,
and in direct violation of Arman’s promise to him to deliver this
ship to a neutral in the port of Amsterdam. But Arman’s
misstatements to his own government have been so often repeated that
it is difficult to understand how a man of M. Drouyn de l’Huys’s
sagacity could have permitted himself to be again deceived by
him.
D.
[Translation of slip from the Gironde of the 5th of July,
1864.]
The following communication relative
to the Yeddo, a vessel-of-war built by Mr. Arman, has been addressed
to us:
Mr. Editor: I have just read in the last
number of your estimable journal an article concerning the steamer
Yeddo, which left here on the 22d of June, as it was alleged, for
Amsterdam. It is with astonishment that I find you so ill-informed
in this matter, for, since Saturday, at least, it has been no longer
a secret that the Yeddo had arrived at Bremershaven, after a passage
of three days, and that she now forms a part of the Prussian navy.
We read, in fact, in the Boersenhalle of Hamburg, of the 29th of
June, as follows: “Arrived at Bremershaven the French corvette the
Yeddo, Huet, commander, from Bordeaux.” And again: “The arrival of
the French steam corvette the Yeddo, Huet, commander, at
Bremershaven, is signalized to us; this vessel has displayed, since
her arrival in port, the Prussian colors.” All the newspapers,
including the Gironde, speak of two vessels-of-war bought by Prussia
in France, and expected shortly in one of the German ports of the
North Sea. These vessels were to bear the names of Augusta and
Victoria; one of them, therefore, has already arrived, and is of
course the Yeddo, which will receive the name of Augusta. The other
vessel, intended to be baptized Victoria, is the Osacca, not yet
finished at Bordeaux, but which will go to sea in a few days.
These two vessels, destined originally for the confederates of
America, were acquired by Prussia about two months ago. At that time
there were two
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officers of
the Prussian navy at Bordeaux, who purchased them of Mr. Arman, the
builder. It seems that the building of vessels-of-war by Mr. Arman
has been very satisfactory to the Prussian officers, and it is
certain that Mr. Arman has received heavy orders from the Prussian
government. Assuredly the fact that Mr. Arman has for a week been at
Berlin will not negative this assertion.
Accept, &c.,
